Hunter Richards has posted a truly useful GH2 vs. hacked GH1 camera test, comparing their video quality & and also preliminary comments about GH2 live HDMI -- all the more impressive because he got out of his sick bed to do it!

I think this is a big deal, yes? (True, no 1080p25 yet, but perhaps that's only a firmware update away?)

Maybe there is a free pony with every GH2 after all?

EDIT: Um, no. Read the thread linked above for all the gory details, but things are not looking good for recording or capturing GH2 live HDMI output. The HDMI signal is fantastic for live full HD monitoring (including when the camera itself is recording), but it appears to be confirmed that the live HDMI signal is subtlety screwed-up so that it's not suitable for capturing or recording to an external HDMI recorder. Unless someone can figure out a magic fix ...

I have a GH2 on order as well and have been monitoring the thread to learn from the pros. I will be a bit like a hog with a wrist watch when I get it: I know it is the pro tool I want to grow with, but I will have a steep growing curve!

I hope to do broadcast video with it eventually for a travel program I have written. However, one must have the ability to get one's hands on it in order to use it, so when is the sucker gonna be available in the US? Harumph!

After waiting since placing an order for one in mid-September, a GH2 was finally shipped to me a few days ago. Woo-hoo. As of today, GH2 cams are almost impossible to obtain in the US unless you buy one from outside the country (Canada, Japan, etc.). The one I finally received was purchased from PanasonicDirect.com (US), but as with all sources for this GH2, availability is sporadic at best.

My first impressions are very positive. Since I now have both a GH1 (with hacked firmware) and a new GH2, it's interesting comparing the two.

The button placement and menus are slightly different between the 2 cams, which makes it a fun challenge using both. :-)

I love that I can shoot with the GH2 in 1080p24 progressive mode f-o-r-e-v-e-r without worrying about the camera crashing, unlike with a hacked GH1 in 1080p24 mode. To my eyes the GH2 recording 1080p24 AVCHD @ 24 megabits/sec looks much better than the GH1's 1080p24 AVCHD @ 24 mbs/s. Even moderately fast-moving scenes look quite good in GH2 recordings. But, sure, you can break the GH2's codec if you push it far enough, but for for a <$1K US cam with a large sensor (plus all its other features), currently the GH2 is a bargain & a great value.

The GH2's "Exra Tele Conversion" feature seems genuinely useful, giving a big focal length boost to any lens, with the minimal negative side effect of a very slight increase in noise. I just did some informal night shooting with the GH2, and I was surprised that the ETC footage looks as good as it does. I'll be testing this feature further. Here's a very brief example (details on my Vimeo page):

When I have some GH2 footage worth showing I'll post additional clips to my website.

FYI: The GH2's CMOS rolling shutter "skew" artifact performance is shown to be as good or better than the GH1 (hacked or not). In some operating modes, the GH2's skew performance is significantly better than the GH1.

I've seen discussions on DVXuser & elsewhere where folks claim to have used these with the GH2's Extra Tele Conversion mode. Apparently many lenses designed for 2/3" video or 16mm film cams work w/o vignetting, as will some C-mount lenses designed for 1/2" video cams.

Hmm. I have a moderately usable 1/2"-format broadcast zoom lens that might be an interesting fit

What's this problem with the HDMI?

Edit - this problem with the HDMI is that it's interlaced up to 60i, at least on NTSC models. We sort of knew this. Notwithstanding the elaborate conspiracy theories over on DVX User, I suspect it's been done that way because 60Hz formats are by far the most widely supported and avoid dropping unsuspecting users into EDID hell with their HDMI devices.

As I've said before is entirely feasible to write recorder software to decimate frames back out of this, but the time involved in doing so is considerable and would require R&D funding.

In addition to the highly-compressed versions for viewing in your web browser, Vimeo members (free) can download the camera-original versions of the clips. I rewrapped the camera-original AVCHD .MTS files to QuickTime .MOV file without recompression so more people can use them.

I hope these are useful. Compare, contrast, discuss. No conclusions from me yet. Cheers.

Tech details are on the Vimeo pages, but to summarize:

Exposure was set using the GH2's "REC HIGHLIGHT" feature which has been shown to indicate white clipping at 100 IRE. The whites chips & cards on the charts where set _once_ (and once only) at or just slightly below 100 IRE while the camera was in STANDARD Film Mode. ISO was set at 320, and the Lumix 20mm lens was set at f2.0. Shutter 1/60th.

I've installed the hacked firmware on my GH2 and it seems to be "working". At least, I haven't experienced any crashes or deal-breaking issues. There are some known quirks, as discussed on Vitaliy's website and elsewhere (such as the DVXuser GH2 forum). YMMV.

I posted a couple of brief hacked video clips shot at 1080p24 AVCHD @ 42 mbits/sec (vs. factory-standard @ 24 mb/s) up on Vimeo, and you can also download the camera-original .MTS files to view them w/o Vimeo's encoding. See:

Vitaliy, Chris Brandin & their international testing team have created a new version (3.62d) of Vitaliy's firmware hack for the GH2 which enables further video quality improvements. See:http://www.personal-...ol-v3.62d-topic

I haven't completed my informal tests yet, but what I'm seeing -- or what I think I'm seeing ;-) -- is fewer compression artifacts and improved detail in the shadows. Others report similar results, but as always: YMMV.

Increasing the bitrate to 32 megabits/sec or more appears to address the relatively small amount of compression artifacts ("mud") sometimes visible in standard GH2 high-motion video. A standard GH2 is much better than the stock GH1 was in this regard, but all cameras benefit from throwing more bits at the challenge of recording high-motion video.

The current hack software fixes an issue in the previous version which resulted in the first few frames of >32 megabit/s clips with extreme compression artifacts.

Importantly, the new hack allows you to select an overall preference for the GH2's codec ("Auto-Quantizer"): Should the codec use the "extra" datarate bits to record motion with fewer artifacts, or should it use the extra bits to record details (especially in low-lit areas) with fewer artifacts. You can preset this preference on a scale from 0 ("all to motion") to 4 ("all to details"). I'm currently testing "#3 Most to details".

I'm hopeful a combination of bitrate, AQ and perhaps other hack settings can result in GH2 video that is essentially mud-free, has fewer gradient banding artifacts, and has improved detail in shadows. More to come ...